Magnetic nanoparticle development for imaging and magnetophoretic rheology

The detection and manipulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) offers functional imaging in medical and non-medical environments. These techniques offer prospects for probing local environment, for example, in the detection of disease markers in biological samples, or the precise stability of nanoformulations. However, most commercial detectors/imagers are developed for superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which display limited functional response to stimuli. To use MNP response for functional imaging, requires the simultaneous development of new MNPs and the detection technique.
Our approach – We will develop a foundry for a suite of MNP designs, based on magnetic composite materials, and tailor detection methods around their unique magnetic fingerprint and enhanced magnetic response. Through significant increases in signal amplitude and frequency response, we will demonstrate imaging methods which significantly improve the resolution of conventional MPI approaches and offers new capability for the in-situ testing of formulation stability using MNPs.